The Internet is Constantly Evolving
The most important thing any website owner needs to know, whether you own a personal website or a business website, is that the Internet is not static. How people use the Internet evolves as their needs change and how the search engines rank and index your website changes based on this evolution. What works today might not work in a few weeks. For example, the emphasis on keywords has moved from single keywords to local and long tail keyword phrases. This is something you need to know to have the best page rank and the most traffic you can.
The way you can keep up with these changes is to take a hands-on approach to your website. Know the trends, be familiar with basic SEO practices, and keep up on any changes Google makes to their algorithms. The last point is fairly easy to do since Google is very open about how they work. Their site has webmaster tools and a blog that includes videos that explain how Google works and what you can do to improve your website’s rank.
Your Page Titles are Important
Google gives heavy weight to page names and URLs. Give careful consideration to what you call your pages since this is normally part of the page’s address or URL. Understanding how page name affects your page’s rank is important. Conduct keyword research before you decide on your page names to identify what keywords are the most effective. Also identify what keywords are not effective so you can avoid them in your website’s page names.
Quality Content = High SERP
Search engine results page (SERP) position is directly dependent on many things, none of them more important than original quality content. Once again, keyword research is a key to quality content that is recognized by search engines. A mistake some website owners make is to write for search engines. While this may have been the practice back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, today search engines read websites like a human being – front to back and top to bottom. Write for your readers and let the keywords and text flow naturally. This will attract search engines and people at the same time.
Mind Your Links
Inbound and outbound links to and from your business and personal Web page are important. A network of related links coming to and going from your website forms a network of connections that is picked up on by Google as designating your website as one of value. Google’s main algorithm is based on the number of inbound and outbound links your website has. The more you have, the higher your website is indexed in their database.
Make sure that all of the links on your website work. Broken links kill your SEO juice and frustrate your visitors. As websites that you have linked to update, their links may change and from time to time you need to take the time to test your links or use an analytical tool that gives you reports of your website’s performance and any areas that need to be addressed. Google and WordStream both have excellent analytic tools that you can use.
You Need a Sitemap
Each website needs a sitemap. This keeps your visitors from getting lost and helps search engines crawl your website. Submit your sitemap .XML file to Google so that the search engine will crawl your website and index it in their database. If you’re unsure how to do this, you can find out how at the Google webmaster information center. Once you submit your sitemap, Google can then find and index even your lowest pages. This helps your SEO and helps people find your pages on the Internet.
These are the five things that every website owner needs to know about the Internet before they use the website builder to create their personal or business Web presentation. Understanding how the Internet works is not difficult but remember that, like all technology, what is true today will not be true down the road. How fast the Internet changes and evolves will depend on the way people use it and the information they need. Keep up with the trends and keep your website current. Then you will be on top of the game and have a successful website thanks to the website builder and your knowledge.
